Q317 :People in our part of the world go to a person
addressed by the title “Baba Ji”. This title refers to a person who is
honest and respectable, loves Allah and talks to Him. Allah gives him
knowledge about people living far away and things that will happen in
the future. When people go to Baba Ji, they request him to pray for
their better future. Women ask him to pray that they have children, or
a baby boy, etc. [Please netment.]
A317 : The first thing to remember in connection
with this question is the fact that knowledge of the future belongs to
Allah alone. There is simply no way that human beings can devise in
order to get to know what will happen next year, next month, tomorrow
or even one second from now. Fiction writers have imagined the
invention of a time machine which enables people to travel through
time. Exciting as this may sound, it will continue for ever to belong
to the realm of imagination. There is no way that we can learn any fact
about the future unless Allah decides to give us that knowledge. It is
important, therefore, to determine whether Allah normally imparts such
knowledge to human beings. It is simple logic that if any person is
favored with such knowledge, then the prophets, particularly Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon them all) would be the one to be so favored. We
do not find in the history of any prophet anything to suggest that he
was given such knowledge. The life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) has been documented in great detail. Things that he said or did
have been elaborately reported and painstakingly verified.
Nevertheless, there is no suggestion whatsoever that at any time did
the Prophet have any knowledge of the future. On the contrary, there
are numerous reports which suggest that when the Prophet sent an
expedition to attack the enemies of Islam, he was always looking for
news about them. He wanted to be sure of their fortune and their
conduct. Allah could have certainly given him all the knowledge he
wanted, but the Prophet always realized that he was only a human being,
honored with Allah’s message. He had to wait for the news to be brought
by its carrier. This means that if your Baba Ji has knowledge of the
future, then he occupies a position with Allah which is higher than
that of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). How else can we explain
that a Baba Ji is favored with something that was not given even to
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)? You say that Baba Ji could also
speak to Allah and Allah speaks to him. If we examine this claim in the
light of the Qur’an, what do we find? There is a clear Qur’anic
statement which says that there are only three ways in which Allah may
decide to speak to human beings. That statement may be given in
translation as follows: “It is not granted to any human being that
Allah should speak to him except by revelation, or from behind a veil,
or through a messenger sent and authorized by Him to make known His
will. Exalted is He, and Wise.” (42;51) What this Qur’anic statement
tells us is that Allah has chosen not to speak to any human being
directly. He could speak to him from behind a veil, and the only case
we know like that is the case of Moses, when Allah spoke to him
directly from behind a veil. On the other hand, Allah may send him
revelations, and these can be vouchsafed only to prophets. The third
method is that Allah sends a messenger, i.e. an angel to give him
whatever message Allah sends down to him. Again, this is an honor given
to prophets. Now those Baba Jis in your part of the world claim to talk
to Allah. May I ask: In what method? If it is any one of these three
then they are claiming to be prophets. We know that Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) was the last of all prophets. No one can be given
that status after he had passed away. Or do they claim that they have a
different method of talking to Allah? If they do, how can they explain
it against the above quoted Qur’anic verse? The fact is that anyone
who claims to receive special knowledge from Allah is an impostor. He
is a liar because he claims to know something which Allah has chosen to
keep to Himself. Note how these Baba Jis claim to know about people
living far away. Do you not think that it is only convenient to their
deception of simple-minded people that they make such a claim? Why do
they not say that they know everything about people living in their
netmunity? If they make such a claim, their lies will soon be
discovered. Hence, they prefer to claim knowledge that cannot be
verified. This is the reason why they say they know about people far
away. There is no doubt that such people acquire some reputation. This
is enhanced when events turn out in a way which can be related to what
they have claimed. Suppose that a Baba Ji tells a woman that she would
soon be pregnant and give birth to a baby boy. The women might have
been married for several years without getting pregnant. If she happens
to conceive, either after medical treatment or just naturally, that
Baba Ji will be quick to claim that it was through his prayer that the
request was granted. If that woman then delivers a baby girl, the Baba
Ji will not have much difficulty in over-riding such small
inconvenience. He may claim that the woman mistook his reference, or he
may put the blame on Allah’s door, saying that Allah had changed His
mind after He had given him the news. What stupidity! Because these
people are impostors who are never tired of lying and deceiving simple
minded people, Islam forbids its followers from going to them,
listening to what they say and having any trust in them. The Prophet
says: “Anyone who goes to a fortune-teller has denied what has been
revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him).” This means that by merely
going to a fortune-teller, a person takes himself out of the fold of
Islam.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )